Rainbow Cupcakes

These colorful and easy Rainbow Cupcakes are a party favorite, finished with creamy frosting and sour airheads for a sweet and festive treat!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Hot Eats and Cool Reads may receive a small commission for Amazon purchases made through these links at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Looking for more recipes, books, food and travel fun? Follow me!

Subscribe by Email, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook Recipe Group!

CLICK TO PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER

Thanks so much for supporting a small business and visiting our family owned blog 💕

Shopping list:

• white cake mix, plus ingredients on the back of box
• gel food coloring
• cream cheese
• powdered sugar
• vanilla extract
• heavy whipping cream
• miniature marshmallows
• Airheads Xtremes Belts

Spring has finally sprung here in Minnesota, and what better way to celebrate than with these bright and cheerful Rainbow Cupcakes? They’re colorful, cute and so tasty!

Made with a boxed cake mix for convenience and topped with a fluffy homemade whipped cream cheese frosting, these treats are perfect for birthdays, BBQs, or any spring and summer gathering. Each cupcake is topped with a rainbow Airheads strip for a fun pop of color and finished with fluffy “clouds” made from mini marshmallows and frosting. They’re as fun to decorate as they are to eat and a hit with kids and adults alike!

If you need some cupcakes for your next party, try my Lemon Cupcakes or Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes!

We love serving punch at parties too! Check out this Rainbow Sherbet Punch or Orange Sherbet Punch!

Keep scrolling for the full printable recipe 💙

Recipe tips and substitution ideas:

• Refrigerate any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container for up to three days.

• If you prefer to skip the traditional food coloring in these Rainbow Cupcakes, you absolutely can! The cupcakes will still look beautiful with the cream cheese frosting, marshmallow clouds and Airheads rainbows. For a more natural approach, try using plant based or fruit and veggie powders. Beet powder, spirulina, turmeric, and freeze dried blueberry or strawberry powder can add subtle, natural hues to your batter or frosting. You can also find natural liquid food colorings at many grocery stores or online that work well in baked goods without artificial dyes.

• To get the best texture and rise in your cake mix cupcakes, start by using room temperature ingredients like eggs and liquids. This helps the batter mix more evenly and results in a smoother, fluffier cupcake. For added richness, swap out the water called for on the box with milk, or use buttermilk if you want a tangy, bakery style flavor. You can also add an extra egg to give the cupcakes better structure and a more homemade feel.

• Be careful not to over mix your batter; mixing just until combined will keep your cupcakes light. For evenly sized cupcakes that bake uniformly, use a cookie scoop or measuring cup to portion the batter. Bake your cupcakes in the center of the oven and resist the urge to open the door too early, which can cause them to sink. Once baked, make sure they’re completely cool before adding any frosting to prevent it from melting.

Our favorite kitchen equipment and supplies used with this recipe:

• Wilton Non-Stick Muffin Pan & Cupcake Pan
• Standard White Cupcake Liners
• Hamilton Beach 6-Speed Electric Hand Mixer
• Disposable Piping Bags
• Pyrex Mixing Bowl Set

Yield 12 cupcakes

Author Hot Eats and Cool Reads

Prep time

20 Min

Cook time

20 Min

Total time

40 Min

Rainbow Cupcakes

Bright and cheerful Rainbow Cupcakes made from cake mix and topped with fluffy whipped cream cheese frosting! Perfect for spring and summer fun!

Ingredients

• 1 - 15.25 ounce box of white cake mix plus ingredients on the back of box
• gel food coloring- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
• 72 miniature marshmallows
• 12 pieces of airheads extremes rainbow berry candy
• 12 white cupcake liners

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box.
3. Divide the cake batter evenly between 6 different bowls.
4. To each bowl add gel food coloring- it must be gel color to get the vibrant cakes. Do one bowl red, one orange, one yellow, one green, one blue, one purple, or whatever color combination you like.
5. Stir the cake batter well to incorporate the colors and add additional color if needed.
6. Spoon the batter into a ziploc bag or a frosting piping bag. Cut off the tip of the bag to pipe the batter into the liners, beginning with the last color first, purple.
7. You want to make a flat surface of your layered colors, so I did this by going around the outside and then quickly filling in the center, making sure not to overload the batter in any certain spot. You want just a thin layer of each color so that they’ll all fit into the cupcake liners. Work backwards, starting with purple, then blue, green, yellow, orange, red.
8. Repeat this process for the remaining colors creating even layers of batter.
9. Bake the cupcakes according to the box directions.
10. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
11. To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together with an electric mixer until combined. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
12. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until it is fluffy and peaks begin to form.
13. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
14. Add frosting to a piping bag prepared with your favorite frosting tip.
15. Pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes.
16. Take your airheads rainbow candy, and trim about 1 inch off of each one with scissors or a knife.
17. Fold the rainbow candies and press them into your cupcake frosting.
18. Finish by adding 3 miniature marshmallows to the ends of both sides of your rainbows.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

414

Fat

23 g

Sat. Fat

12 g

Carbs

50 g

Fiber

0 g

Net carbs

48 g

Sugar

38 g

Protein

5 g

Sodium

5801 mg

Cholesterol

55 mg

Hot Eats and Cool Reads is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you try from this blog/website. You may not always have the same results I do due to variations in ingredients, humidity, altitude, cooking temperatures, typos, errors, omissions, or individual cooking abilities. 

You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful. I am not a certified nutritionist and make no claims to the contrary. Each individual's dietary needs and restrictions are unique to the individual.

Looking for more recipes, books, food and travel fun? Follow me!

Subscribe by Email, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook Recipe Group!